Grace Massoud wrote this article on MTV Website:

New Year’s realizations beat your New Year’s resolutions. Open your eyes and realize exactly what’s been holding you back. Only then can you attempt to make some real sustainable changes to your reality and work towards the life you want. Have you ever wondered how to manifest the things you desire? There are some key habits, most of them baffling in their simplicity, to attract what you want in the New Year. 

First and foremost, building on a foundation of good health is critical because you can’t leap off a shaky foundation. Self-care, sleeping well, eating right, flossing…Seeking where else to solidify that footing so as to make the rest of it firm and avoid constantly looking back. 

Another important habit to adopt is being present to your emotions. Even anger, which is usually either turned off or directed at other people, the two most common responses. Instead, we should feel it in our body, be aware of the physical sensations, and go take care of it, process it in a healthy way so as to avoid hurting ourselves or spewing it at unsuspecting innocents. Moreover, attempt shifting your language around negative emotions. Do not identify with them, “I’m angry”, “I’m sad”. Give these a try for a change: “I’m experiencing anger”, “I’m going through sadness”. Being intentional about the language we use around our feelings and expressing them so as not to identify with them allows them to come and go and us returning to a conscious state. This is the next level of taking care of ourselves. An extension. Like minding our finances, our environment, and our physical space. We have to make sure that all parts of our life are in order. Messiness for instance can be distracting. Organize your space and automatically you have more clarity and more focus to get things done. Don’t take it to compulsion or go on a quest for perfection prior to taking action. All your finances don’t need to be just right before you start a business. Move forward. Constantly. Be ok with the imperfection. It is a lifetime practice taking care of those foundational habits. Leap with the mess. 

This one is so simple yet so complicated for me and many people suffering from indecision and feelings of being lost. Ask yourself what it is you truly want. We have to get clear on the vision before the rest can flow. Give yourself permission to want something, and know in your heart that you deserve it. It is a sad truth that we learn to suppress our true desires from a young age because of well-intentioned parents and teachers. Don’t anymore. Create a vision board, journal, whatever floats your boat and figure that stuff out. 

Don’t give in to stagnancy. Take action on a daily basis, intentionally, to move closer to your goals. To the life you want to create. Should you desire more meaningful, deep, powerful and lasting connections like I do, develop a connection habit. Elevating your contact with people can be done through the simple act of bringing more humor to your interactions, cracking a joke with a stranger daily could be a fun connection habit. Whatever it is, you will have to put yourself out there and risk being laughed at or rejected. Personally, I crave more connection. Someone else might seek deep mindfulness and peace. What actions could you take every single day to create that reality you so desire? You don’t know what’s going to happen when you assume those action habits. That is how magic is created into the world, through the sheer power of your action habits.  

Be an author of magic not a seeker of magic. Be the magic. Don’t just wait around for things to change, decide to create magic in imperfect situations. In whichever condition you are right now, ask yourself what is your modest little work of art that you could create right now. How can you inject magic into your day and others’?